“I don’t even know what she’s wearing,” Tina said, looking at her own dress critically.  “Bette insisted on keeping our dresses a secret from each other before the ceremony.  I hope we match.”

“Come on; you two would match even if you were wearing giant potato sacks,” Alice commented wryly, as she struggled to button Tina’s dress properly.  But, when she had reached the bottom of the dress, she suddenly realised that she had skipped a button hole somewhere along the way.  “Fuck!” she cursed in dismay. 

“Here, let me try,” Helena said calmly, pushing Alice lightly out of the way.  She deftly undid the buttons on Tina’s dress and started doing them up again methodically. 

Alice moved around to face Tina and gave her a wide smile.  “Don’t worry about anything, Tina,” she said.  “You and Bette have been through enough drama and pain to last a lifetime.  After today, you two will be spending the rest of your lives together very happily with little Angelica.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that,” Tina answered brightly, as she adjusted her dress again.  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.  Which is pretty amazing, given everything that has happened between Bette and I over the past three years.”

Alice nodded understandingly.  She had seen her friends suffer through Tina’s miscarriage, followed by Bette’s infidelity and a painful separation.  Then, after their reconciliation after Angelica was born, Tina abruptly started dating men, causing yet another rift in their relationship.  It had only been in the past few months that they had both recognised how much they needed each other, despite everything that had happened between them.  Looking at Tina’s excited and happy expression, Alice could see that this time, there would be no changes of heart or lies that would stop them from being together. 

“You and Bette have been through so much together,” Alice said, thinking aloud.  “The fact that you’ve been able to work through your problems makes even a cynic like me have some hope for all that ‘soul mate’ stuff.” 

As she spoke, Alice couldn’t help but allow her mind to drift back to the night before at The Planet when she had abruptly ended things with Lara.  Alice was painfully aware that she had done the cowardly thing by walking away from Lara, and that her reaction had been based entirely on her insecurities about being abandoned by those she loved.  She hadn’t slept for more than two hours last night because she kept hearing Shane’s words echoing in her mind: “You’re the one who’s leaving right now,” and then Lara’s quiet plea for her to stay.